Bonjour!
Sounds like Christmas is getting underway back home! Once there is a Christmas tree present you know things are serious... haha. So apparently here in Belgium the kids are double dipping in the Christmas goody jar....because St. Nicolas comes and visits them on the 6th of December with presents...and Père Noël comes on the 25th...and we have seen St. Nicolas roaming the streets this week...he is very....european??? I'll try and take a picture for you....
I feel like this week has been one of those that I'll look back at in my journal and think 'those are some pretty cliché missionary experiences right there'. If you want the shortened version of my week...you can skip down to the second to last paragraph. Thats the part where I learn my lesson. If you want the full-length version...well here ya go.
We started this week off with alot of hope. We planned on fixing five baptisimal dates this week! Monday starts off. So President gave us permission to have Pday all day long on Monday, instead of ending at 6, so that the elders could have the traditional 'turkey bowl' (I say its for the elders because really I couldn't care less...but alas I got roped into playing football...again.) But Jean-Claude and Claudine, the african family we've been working with could only meet on Monday nights. So naturally we sacrificed our all day Pday to go and meet with them. We were really excited because we were pretty sure they were ready to fix baptismal dates. Well, we got there. Taught a perfect restoration lesson, then their friend walks in. Asks what the Book of Mormon is. Restart. Meanwhile Claudine gets up and starts to make dinner. We teach him a scattered first lesson. Then get invited in for dinner.
Pause. So the whole time we've been in Brussels, when members ask to eat at their house, they ask what we don't like to eat. And I say fish.
Play. There were giant fish HEADS sitting on the table. So first they served us rice and vegetables, with sauce from the fish heads on it. So I thought I got out of actually eating the actual fish head, they just cooked it for the sauce. But then once we were done. She served me a nice big fish head. Its beady little eyeball stared at me the whole time. I was officially gagging. But I thought...well if they get baptized this is all worth it. So, just as we were finishing eating, Soeur Murray somehow turned the subject spiritual again and asked if they would prepare to be baptized. They said it was too soon......Its not a no right??? We were still pretty disappointed...and fish face was squirming around inside of me. Short pday, fish head, and no baptizimal date....
So we figure that's ok. Our part-member family will be ready to fix baptisimal dates. And we thought of this great idea that the dad could prepare to be worthy to baptize his daughters. We got there on Thursday night...things are great. The father said a beautiful prayer...he asked if he and his wife could one day prepare to be couple missionaries. My heart started pounding....litterally beating out of my chest. I knew it was time. I asked if we could start to teach his girls to get them ready for baptism, and if he would like to prepare to do the baptism.........he told me that would take a long time. Again not a flat out no....right?
Alright round three. Tom, our nanny miracle. We invite her to baptized. Another 'oh its too soon'. Ok understandable...she is taking this seriously and told us she needs to know if 'the book is true' first. I can respect that. Its not a flat out no...right? She was finally going to be able to come to church this week. She texts us on Saturday night. Her boss (she is a live in nanny) has told her she isn't allowed to meet with us anymore and she can't come to church. We call her and tell her we can come over on Sunday and introduce the church to her boss. This is actually a happy story. Her boss was very nice and actually just nervous about having random people come to his home during the day when his kids were home, and worried about her safety. He told us that he and his wife and Tom will try to come to church next week and they will 'look at' the material we gave him aka the Book of Mormon. Tom meanwhile told us that 'she has been reading the book like crazy' and 'doesn't want to go to the other Christian churches her boss suggested, she wants to go to this one'. She's more ready than she knows....
I'm sure your reading this and thinking that the big lesson I need to learn is patience. The people we are teaching are ready...just I guess I've forgotten that the rest of the world doesn't run on a transfer scheadule and sometimes sticky miracles take more than 6 weeks to play out. I guess as missionaries we are just so immersed in praying and thinking about these people, I forget that a month to join a church is a fast transition....so I guess I need to stop being so demanding and expecting miracles to play out before 'transfer day'. So summary of the week: everyone is progressing. People are keeping their committments. And they were all sent into my life to teach me patience. I was reading about Abinidi and Alma this week and I was thinking how curious it is that Abinidi went out preaching to the people...and they killed him. Then Alma went out preaching to the exact same people, and they were willing to sacrifice everything- leave their country and meet in secret- just to hear the word of God. What changed? My conclusion is that everything happens on God's timing. Abinidi prepared the way for Alma. But Alma saw the fruits. Doesn't mean it was easy for Alma. He still had to sneak around, risk his life, do some major repenting, and work hard to teach people. But Abinidi had to pave the way. I guess that's how missionary work is. In some towns you get to be Alma- work hard and see your fruits. Sometimes your Abinidi...work hard and get majorly rejected. Both are neccessary. And both are Book of Mormon heros for me.
Other miracles this week. Sometimes we just have so many..... Cecilia Rodrigrez (the one who's sister refered her to us, and her 4 kids) came to church! And called her sister to get her there! And after being served an african fish meal a second time this week, an American family made us chicken enchildas on Sunday. Tender Mercies.
Love you! Miss you!
Soeur Smith
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